Point Fortin supermarket robbed again, two held

A week after three barefoot cutlass-wielding bandits and an unarmed accomplice robbed a Chinese supermarket in Point Fortin, two bandits returned and robbed the business.

But in the latest incident, municipal police held two bandits, 17 and 20, and handed them over to Point Fortin police.

Up to Friday, police had not charged them.

At around 8. 35pm on January 26, police were on mobile patrol at Bryce Road in Point Fortin, where they got a report of a robbery in progress at the supermarket – Budget Rite at Main Field Road.

They headed towards the location, and on the way, saw the two menwalking at Main Field Road.

Police stopped, searched them and found $2,890 in the 20-year-old’s pocket. Nearby, the officers found two black cash register drawers an axe, cutlasses and clothing in the bush.

They arrested the two and took them to the police station.

Minutes earlier, the bandits went into the supermarket and announced a robbery. One was barefoot and had an axe. He grabbed a cash register. Both ran off after an armed security officer confronted them.

On January 17, shortly before 8 pm, a man pretending to be a customer walked into the supermarket. Standing at the entrance, he kept signalling to someone inside, while also looking around and talking and texting on a cellphone.

Three barefoot men, each with a cutlass, then walked past the unarmed accomplice. One hitting a counter with a cutlass, and they announced a robbery while customers were cashing their items.

Video footage circulating on social media shows one of the bandits taking the drawer from the cash register.

Another jumped over a counter and took two bottles of Hennessy, a bottle of Baileys and other items from nearby shelves. The three then left with the cash.

Police believed the two detained suspects were among the four.

The supermarket opened around late November and previously did not have an armed guard.